In pictures: Hope for African students
In an initiative called the "Next Einstein Initiative" - the belief that the world's next Albert Einstein could just as easily be found in Africa as anywhere else - the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences offers opportunities for the best and brightest to study there.
Students at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences attend a lecture on experimental mathematics using Sage, a software system. Many of the students, who come from countries all over Africa, must take English classes in addition to math and sciences.Erin Conway-Smith
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences began in 2003 in Muizenberg, South Africa, a town near Cape Town that is famous for its surfing beaches. Students from around Africa live in dorms at the institute, located in a building that once was a hotel.Erin Conway-Smith
Thifhelimbilu Singo, 28, who grew up in a small town in South Africa’s Limpopo province, is a graduate of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and is about to complete her PhD in nuclear physics at Stellenbosch University.Erin Conway-Smith
Esra Khaleel, 28, from the Darfur region of Sudan, works in her office at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University, where she is working on her PhD in nuclear physics. Ms. Khaleel graduated from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in 2008.Erin Conway-Smith